The Adam Fiberesima School of Music and Conservatory (AFSM) of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), Rivers State, has honoured renowned broadcaster and music critic, Benson Idonije, with a fellowship. The award for the septuagenarian media trainer was contained in a February 19 letter signed by Joseph Ajienka.
The letter stated that the recognition was based on Idonije’s “commitment to the development of classical and indigenous music not only in Nigeria but throughout the West African region”. The honour, according to the letter, entitles Idonije to “use the insignia FAFSM (or Fellow, AFSM).
Born in 1936 in Otuo near Auchi in Edo State, where he also started elementary school, Idonije studied communication engineering at Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH), Lagos. He joined the service of the Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation (later Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria) in 1957 as engineering assistant, but moved to mainstream broadcasting in 1960, when he became a producer and presenter of such famous programmes as the ‘The Big Beat’ and ‘Stereo Jazz Club’.
After retirement from the FRCN in 1992, Benjay, as he is fondly called, began contributing critiques, opinions and commentaries to many major arts-related journals in Nigeria and abroad. In1996, he was formally invited by The Guardian (Nigeria) to write for the newspaper; and he maintained three columns every week – ‘Evergreen’ (Wednesdays), ‘Sound and Screen’ (Fridays), and ‘All that Jazz’ (Sundays). He is perhaps the only columnist in any Nigerian newspaper with such frequency and resourcefulness.
The well-researched columns are individually widely acclaimed, attracting feedbacks – mostly commendations – from all over the world. The thousands of articles are currently being collated into volumes that will be published soon. In the past two years, Benjay has however concentrated his weekly writing only on his most-favoured subject of jazz, still under the title ‘All That Jazz’ every Sunday for The Guardian.
Late last year, Idonije, who was Fela Ransome-Kuti’s colleague at the then Nigeria Broadcasting Service (NBS), and subsequently the Afrobeat legend’s first manager, released the pre-edition of his monumental memoir, Dis Fela Sef: The Untold Legends of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. The book, which he started writing six years ago as a recollection of his exclusive moments with Fela, is expected to be released later this year.
Aside writing so frequently in the newspapers and other international music journals, Idonije also maintains a busy schedule as a trainer of broadcasters and serving as a resource person to many broadcast organisations and some music institutions in the country.
He is the grandfather of the popular hip hop act, Burna Boy.
The UNIPORT honours letter enjoined Idonije to do his “best in propagating and immortalising the musical legacies of our heroes past, whose ideals, talents, philosophies and structural standardisation of African music have remained a pilgrimage to many enthusiasts”.
